Don't forget that Bill's role with Flagship studios was as CEO, not designer. You can blame the Hellgate fiasco on the once beloved Diablo leads (David Brevik, Max Schaefer, et al) - I blame them really for not having an integrated vision for the game. It was all over the place -- game design by committee.

He reminds me of a horrible newspaper editor I had back in 1995. Didn't pull his weight, didn't help people, treated some people awful and others like me fine. But he did hire great people, several of whom remain treasured friends of mine today. I joked he would've been a great HR Manager - let him sift through resumes and find great people, but don't let him near any of them once they start working.

Personally, I think Mr. Roper got way in over his head on the financial stuff, and his new position with Cryptic is probably a better fit for his strengths. Get him away from the spreadsheets, and back to game-polishing. When he was with Blizzard, he was probably perceived as more of a PR mouthpiece, but he generally was given credit for helping polish a lot of their more beloved games. And of course he's good at doing voiceovers for various characters too. Maybe they'll make use of that skillset too.

Heh yeah, I guess so, although as a CEO, I think he would of had a say into what made it into the game or not, so while he's not fully responsible, I do think he was at least partially responsible for the decisions and direction the game was heading in, including the membership scheme that people were very unhappy with.

My understanding is that the game is through the concept and base-design stages, so why the decision to bring in Bill Roper? What does Bill bring at this stage of development? (Arakim)

Mr. Roper: I’ve got a lot of experience coming in at the later stages of a product to help get it through the polish phase and released. This is something that I did for a lot of years at Blizzard, but unfortunately wasn’t in the position to do at Flagship.

Ah, I knew at some point in my life I'd be right about something.

Also interesting is that he wasn't actively seeking a job - apparently he was trying to get into closed alpha testing for Champions Online, heard from one of the devs and then it went from there.

My gut feeling is good in terms of cash infusion and shoveling a lot of boxes on retail shelves.

A little leery maybe in terms of STO and Champions Online needing to reach "undisclosed targets" to achieve bonuses as part of the acquisition:

Quote

Additionally the performance-related bonus could see as much as USD 20 million paid in cash or stock if Champions Online and Star Trek's 2010-11 revenues outperform set undisclosed targets, payable in August 2010 and May 2011.

Just sounds suspciously like Accountant Speak instead of Game Development Speak. It's just really hard to predict an MMO's success (spectacular launches sometime flame out, quiet launches sometime roll along and gain momentum). Setting "bonus dates" like that could also force a premature release of either game, a cynic or a pessimist might suggest.

Thats a kink to the latest blog post. this one is about customizing your race and making your own type. I think Ill make my crew all females..an Orion, a Bajoran, Romulan, wonder if I can make a Twi'lik ?

I have to say this much - they have the universe's looks down perfectly as far as the shows go.

I keep on waiting for the press release stating they're completely re-doing the game to fit in better with the style of the new movie over the style from the series, with more action in it. they could go the Tabula Rasa route for ground combat

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Excalibur class ship Sounds like a cool ship and its like a refit of the Constition class so it looks cool too. Not sure on all the glowy parts these ships have but we'll see. Ill make do with them for a ST MMO.

Excalibur class ship Sounds like a cool ship and its like a refit of the Constition class so it looks cool too. Not sure on all the glowy parts these ships have but we'll see. Ill make do with them for a ST MMO.

Actually looks more like an Ambassador class (aka Enterprise-C to me.)

Excalibur class ship Sounds like a cool ship and its like a refit of the Constition class so it looks cool too. Not sure on all the glowy parts these ships have but we'll see. Ill make do with them for a ST MMO.

Actually looks more like an Ambassador class (aka Enterprise-C to me.)

Excalibur class ship Sounds like a cool ship and its like a refit of the Constition class so it looks cool too. Not sure on all the glowy parts these ships have but we'll see. Ill make do with them for a ST MMO.

Actually looks more like an Ambassador class (aka Enterprise-C to me.)

To me, Ambassador class looks more like a squat boxy Galaxy glass.

Well, that doesn't surprise me considering it was the predecessor to the Galaxy Class. It was actually what they were considering to be the Enterprise-D before the show began.

Craig: Don’t know if there are any mechanical changes that we’ve “discovered” after viewing the film. We’re looking at more ways to make nods to the film – gotta find a way to get Keenser (or at least his race) into the game!

Craig: We were aware of the major influences on our timeline (Romulus being destroyed in our universe, no Spock, etc.) before the movie came out. We’ve been working with CBS and the other licensors since we started on the project to make sure that what happens in the Trek Universe is well represented.

I wonder if you'll be able to customize starships in some way. That's been part of COH's and Champions' modus operandi. I didn't think Auto Assault did enough with the vehicle customization ideas (you were generally limited to little spoilers and moldings).

I'm not saying you should be able to put a big screaming Trans Am chicken on your starship (rest in peace, Pontiac! ), but I figure some form of customization could break the monotony of piloting the same ship forever.

Players beam down to a planet with a five-member Away Team. If you have less than four other player captains with you, the remaining members of the away team are made up of your Bridge Officers. But if you only have two other captains on your team, two Bridge Officers from the pool of the three player captains’ Officers can be selected and beamed down with the team.

You control your officers’ actions, and have several different modes to employ. Some of those modes include: Aggressive, meaning they’ll pursue and engage enemies; Defensive, meaning they’ll wait for your orders to attack enemies; and Target Your Target, meaning you can command your officers to focus fire on your chosen adversary. [sounds like a "pet-class" in traditional MMOs]

Each captain can equip a Kit. Kits work like a special inventory slot, and grant up to four special abilities to your character beyond what your normal skills provide. These abilities range from heals to force fields, stasis fields, holographic soldiers, turrets and lots of different buffs and debuffs.

There are nine different Kit Categories, three for each profession (Science, Tactical and Engineer), but hundreds of different ability combinations. However, Kit use is restricted by your profession and rank – a tactical officer can’t equip an engineering Kit. Skills improve your use of your Kits. If you want to be the best physician in Starfleet, you’ll need to be a Science officer with medical skills and an advanced medical Kit.

The more advanced you become in certain skills, the more abilities become available to you. As you continue to advance in hand-to-hand combat, for instance, you’ll be able to use more damaging strikes and maneuvers. If you’re more of a fan of phasers or bat’leths, characters can equip two different weapons at a time and switch between them, on the fly, during combat.

But it’s not all about offense. Captains and Bridge Officers have personal shields [I remember something like this from the short-lived animated classic ST, where they didn't have to worry so much about special effects production costs; a small belt-mounted gizmo that generated a light force field that followed the contour of the character's body], which offer some protection against attacks but are diminished as they take damage. However, if you take cover for a brief period of time your shields will recharge quickly, providing an additional tactical element to the ground game.

Q: Will there be a Beta Test?A: The game’s alpha and beta preview programs have not yet begun. When we announce the start of these previews, that information will be posted at the official Star Trek Online website, http://www.startrekonline.com .

6-month or lifetime subscriptions to Champions Online are supposed to "guarantee" you a spot in the STO closed beta whenever it *does* start up. I'm sure though there will be other ways to get into it (magazine and gaming news site promos, etc.), so I wouldn't commit $59.99 or $199.99 just for that unless you also really do like Champions Online (open beta starts Aug. 17 on Champions).

I will be really impressed if Cryptic finds a way to make both ship-to-ship and ground combat/exploration fun. That's a couple of drastically different things to design and balance.

I hope the ground combat has maybe some element of diplomacy to it. I mean, I'm all for combat, but a lot of my favorite Trek episodes (all "generations") had some element of diplomacy, resolving wars, etc. to them. It it's too much like other MMOs, I'm a little concerned about the idea of all these Starfleet officers running around with guns blazing, yelling, "Lets do the HORTA RAID!!!!! PHAT LOOT!!!!!!!!" For comparison, it's tough for me to immerse myself in the land of Middle Earth when the chat is mostly "TURTLE RAID!!!!!!!!! WHO WANTS TO WOMP TURTLES FOR AWESOME LEWT???" [Disclaimer: I did tell Hanton's kinship I would do a Turtle Raid tonight, and I'm a Guardian of my word. ] and "I need help killing 500 boars for Deeeeed!"

In a way though, I think I would find it easier to role-play a Star Trek officer (and have fun with it, even if I did it "by the book"), than I do in the medieval MMOs I've played.

Frankly, as long as they do combat in the Star Trek universe 'right' (in other words, something akin to the tactical warfare of Bridge Commander, but not as complicated), and ground based missions that offer some well-done firefights along with slower-paced recon missions and whatnot (like in the shows), I'll be a VERY happy person.

To be frank, this game has another plus - it's not your standard Fantasy MMO. I'm completely tired of those.

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"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

You can never be too young, too skinny, or have too many fantasy MMORPGs... j/k

I wish Gods & Heroes had made it to release (even if it had ended up throwing the whole "squad MMO" concept out in favor of being a more traditional MMO), cause I think Greek Mythology would've made for a slightly more refreshing fantasy MMOrpg concept. I tried in beta though, and it was mostly just a mess (imho).

LOTRO is the only more traditional mmorpg that hooked me (and I am Lifetime on it), but I think it's more because of its breadth of regions and quests, and general polish and community, that I've remained hooked, than because it's Middle Earth.

I tried a trial of SWG sometime after its much maligned "NGE" change, and found the combat, animations etc. wanting. I tried Anarchy Online, and couldn't even figure my way out of the starter areas.

I can't wait till Fantasy based MMO's are put out far and few between.Its that doldrums that MMO's seem to be stuck in. The paradigm shift that people talk about as being needed for MMO's hopefully will start with developers saying good bye to the fantasy based games. Haven't we delved long enough into the World of Orcs and Elves? Maybe not.......I dunno. But for me If I never play another one I wont be too dismayed.

I wish Gods & Heroes had made it to release (even if it had ended up throwing the whole "squad MMO" concept out in favor of being a more traditional MMO), cause I think Greek Mythology would've made for a slightly more refreshing fantasy MMOrpg concept. I tried in beta though, and it was mostly just a mess (imho).

I actually enjoyed my time in Gods and Heroes. Too bad it never made it out of beta.